James Wood girls rally for ABI track co-championship

WINCHESTER — James Wood senior Ja’Niyah Stovall usually doesn’t start off running too hard in the 400 meters, but she knew just how much was at stake when she received the baton for the anchor leg in the 4x400 relay on Saturday.

The Colonels entered the final event of their school’s 52nd H. Brian Landes Apple Blossom Track & Field Invitational in fourth place with 77 points, trailing Culpeper County (80), Fauquier (79) and Handley (78).

Culpeper didn’t enter the 4x400, so James Wood knew it had to finish in front of the Falcons and Judges to have a chance at winning the meet. Stovall’s three relay mates put James Wood in second place — a few steps in front of Handley — when Stovall received the baton in the final heat of the 4x400, but Fauquier’s anchor leg had a 30-meter lead.

Less than a minute later and before Stovall had even finished, James Wood coaches and athletes were cheering wildly and preparing to congratulate her at Kelican Stadium. Stovall reeled in Fauquier’s anchor runner and passed her before Stovall even hit the 350-meter mark on her 400-meter run.

The area’s fastest 400 runner during the last outdoor track season in 2019 (1:00.96) didn’t let up until she crossed the finish line 2.53 seconds ahead of Fauquier with a 63-second split, her fastest 400 of the season. Stovall placed fourth in the open 400 in 1:04.34 earlier on Saturday.

James Wood (4 minutes, 27.91 seconds) didn’t finish first in the 4x400 — that honor went to Kettle Run (4:22.02 in the first heat). But all that mattered was that the Colonels finished first in their heat, second overall and scored eight points to the third-place Falcons’ six.

In the end, James Wood and Fauquier finished as co-champions with 85 points on Saturday in the 12-team, two-day meet that featured only Northwestern District teams (both Class 3 and Class 4).

It’s the first time the Colonel girls — who received 47 points of their 85 points from senior Brooke Sandy — have finished as champions of their own meet since 2016.

Stovall was glad she could help finish things off after junior Lauren Beatty — who put the Colonels in first with her opening leg — senior Audrey Sandy and junior Kameron Strosnider finished their turns on the relay.

“My coaches have been pushing me to do better throughout the season,” said Stovall after a lengthy stretch of sitting on the ground after her exhausting run. “Since we were really close to being in first place for the girls, they told me if I can [push myself harder], to do it, so we can get first place. I was like, ‘Ok, I’ll try.’

“When I first got the baton, I was like, ‘I can catch her if I go fast,’ even though I don’t usually start fast. I started getting close to her [at the 300 mark], and then I was really close to her [with 100 left]. That’s when I really sped up.”

Stovall said the noise her comeback was generating went a long way toward helping her blast her way past Fauquier.

“When I finished, I was really emotional,” Stovall said. “I heard my team cheering for me, I heard other teams cheering for me. The more people you hear cheer for you, the more excited you get. You don’t want to stop.”

James Wood girls’ head coach Caroline Sandy — the mother of Brooke and Audrey — said she got emotional watching Stovall. During an interview on May 7, Sandy was hopeful that Stovall could take herself to another level this season.

“That’s what I’ve been wanting her to tap into when I said she’s got that potential,” said Caroline, who was an assistant coach for three seasons prior to this season. “She actually pushed herself, and she became competitive. That’s the first time I’ve seen her be that competitive in a race. It was pretty awesome to see her tap into that.”

Though the 4x400 team put the finishing touches on the co-title, the Colonels wouldn’t have had a shot at the team title if not for Brooke Sandy. Not surprisingly, Sandy won the meet’s Jim Casey Most Outstanding Performer award after her second straight spectacular day.

On Friday — which featured all the field events and the 3,200 — Sandy won the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches to win by two inches), the triple jump (33-5.25 to win by 4.75 inches) and took second in the long jump (14-10.75). On Saturday, Sandy set personal records to win the 100 hurdles by 0.23 (16.15) and take second in the 300 hurdles (47.53). She also ran the opening leg on the fourth-place 4x100 team.

“I’m so happy,” said Sandy with a laugh when asked about winning the award. “I’ve never won anything like that before. It means everything to me.”

Sandy does all the same individual events as 2018 James Wood graduate Rene Rosso, a former standout at NCAA Division I Mount St. Mary’s who won the Jim Casey award in 2017.

Sandy said Rosso — a senior when Sandy was a freshman — is her idol. Sandy’s greatest success during her career has come in the high jump (all-state in 2019 outdoors, 2020 indoors), but she’s shown throughout her career she can do just about anything, just like Rosso.

“This is everything I’ve trained for,” said Sandy about her overall success at the ABI. “I do think I have a strong future in the high jump, but I’m trying to train for other events, not just high jump. They’re all my strongest events. I train equally for all of them. And I love running all over the place [at meets] and meeting new people.”

Her mother is impressed with Brooke’s growth.

“I no longer have to push her,” Caroline said. “She’s pushing herself.”

Just like Rosso, Brooke’s versatility is helping James Wood to success as a team.

“I wasn’t expecting [the team title],” Brooke said. “But we’ve been training hard this past week, and we pulled it together.”

Caroline Sandy said she was pleased with the entire team, as the girls and boys combined for approximately 20 personal records. Also for the James Wood girls, Audrey Sandy placed second in the high jump (5-0) and Aubrey Grove took third in the discus (109-4).

The Handley girls wound up taking fourth in the 4x400 and scored four points, helping the Judges also pass Culpeper in the team standings. Handley placed third as a team with 82 points.

The Judges had numerous impressive performances over the two days.

On Friday, senior Mary McKay won the pole vault competition held at Handley with a 10-6, and senior Amyra Newman placed third in the shot put (33-0).

On Saturday, the Judges sprinters and hurdlers piled up the points. The 4x100 team of seniors Tierney Finley, Sofia Posadas and Brittnay Turner and sophomore Liz Imoh won by 1.7 seconds with a season-best 51.36. Posadas won the 100 by 0.03 in 13.12 and took second in the 200, 0.03 from first, in 26.69. Imoh beat Sandy by 0.47 in the 300 hurdles with a 47.06 and took second to Sandy in the 100 hurdles in 16.38. Junior Zadriana Johnson placed third in the 300 hurdles (52.07).

“I was really pleased,” Handley coach Mike McKiernan said. “I thought the girls really ran hard and fought hard.”

Sherando placed sixth with 42 points.

Senior Ella Carlson starred on Friday, winning the discus by 6-7 with a mark of 122-1 and taking second in the shot put (34-4). Junior Victoria Corbit placed third in the long jump (14-9.75). On Saturday, sophomore Eva Winston placed second in the 800 in 2:25.93 after helping the 4x800 team of sophomores Ryleigh Combs and Emma Ahrens and senior Molly Robinson place third in 10:38.22.

Millbrook took seventh with 18 points. Sixteen of those points came from sophomore Madison Murphy’s first-place finish in the 800 (2:25.06 to beat Winston by 0.87) and junior Kaylin Upson’s third-place finish in the 100 hurdles (18.14).

For more results, go to https://va.milesplit.com/meets/413057-apple-blossom-invitational-nwd-only-2021/results/747599/raw#.YKBiMY7YrmU.

For more coverage of the meet, see Tuesday’s edition of The Winchester Star.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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